Uruguayans protest Supreme Court’s ruling on human rights abuses

Protests have been held against Uruguay’s Supreme Court and its ruling against a law permitting investigations into crimes carried out by the previous dictatorship.

On Monday, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the Supreme Court after it ruled that the law allowing investigations into human rights abuses from the 1973-1985 dictatorship would be in violation of the constitution.

On Friday, the Supreme Court said a law passed in 2011 by Uruguay’s Congress that made such investigations or prosecutions possible despite a 1986 amnesty law, was unconstitutional. The court also re-established the amnesty.

In October 2011, in a controversial move, the Uruguayan Congress adopted a law that eliminated the effects of the amnesty law which protected police and military personnel from being prosecuted over human rights violations.

The new law also repealed a statute of limitations that aimed at preventing victims of human rights abuses from being able to file criminal complaints.

Under the military rule, Uruguay had the largest number of political prisoners in the world, and some 200 people were kidnapped and killed.